Impress your students with the wealth of knowledge you have but……
The art of good communication is human skills effectively applied.
FACULTY CODE OF CONDUCT
How to Conduct the Lecture Sessions
Success in lecturing is based on the following formula:Planning + Preparation + Practice + Reflection = RESULTS.
Students invest a lot in their learning. Our job is to ensure the right environment is created in which they can achieve this.
Students attending lectures need: / Students attending lectures don't need:
§ definite structure
§ well prepared and organised classes
§ lecturer awareness of student backgrounds
§ clear explanations
§ a limited number of concepts per lecture
§ simple language used
§ variety of media used
§ 'real world' relevant examples
§ student participation encouraged
§ student views respected
§ course notes given out or made accessible
§ relevant and timely feedback on students' learning. / § to be told about the lecturer's holiday or latest business deal
§ long winded anecdotes
§ lecturers who wander off-topic
§ to hear only about the lecturer's own life
§ sexist or unethical commentary
§ criticism of other staff and students
§ to be overwhelmed with information
§ a description of what they can read anyway in their textbook.
§ Dictation
He concluded that
To conduct good lectures takes time and experience. But there are a few basic steps you can take to ensure you are on the right path. Being prepared and organised and confident with your material, and presenting it effectively, will be appreciated by the students who attend your lectures.
How to Plan for the Sessions
Colbourne Lecturers MUST;
1. Research extensively in the content area.
2. Create a webpage and class group.
3. Create a journal of weekly reading materials from library texts, online library, online sources, journals, newspaper pertinent to the week’s lessons.
4. Prepare presentable and well organized slides. Avoid using background that makes text unreadable. Minimize number of words per slide to ensure readable font size (suggest 28 upwards). Suggested are 15 slides per hour.
5. Organise the contents of the slides in weekly courses to support the course outline.
6. Upload course syllabus, weekly power point lessons and associated reading lists and links to your webpage.
7. Collect the names, date of birth, and telephone and email addresses of students in each class group.
8. Send out a courtesy email prior to/immediately at the start of a course with lecturers’ expectations of students and the links to your web page.
9. Prepare well-structured lectures.
10. Ensure the content of the lesson is consistent with the course outline.
11. Become fully familiar and comfortable with the contents of the lesson before presentation because you will speak to the students, not read.
12. Ensure you have a good meal plan as you will need to be standing and walking the 120 minutes of lecture. Sitting is not acceptable for lectures.
13. Take a bathroom break before the lecture. Take water in with you during lecture sessions for refreshment. Eating before the students (during lecture) is strictly not permitted.
Preparing for the Lecture.
* Prepare visual aids and teaching aids:
§ Make power point presentations with video clips and images to support your discussion. Animated images and words incorporated in the presentation better capture the students’ attention span. Use music as a cue to the start and break in slides.
§ Use music at intervals such as the break in lecture for the Q&A.
§ The students will love and anticipate this at each lecture. A funny you tube video can also do the trick. There are plenty out there.
§ To prepare presentable and well organized slides you need to avoid using background that makes text unreadable.
§ Minimize number of words per slide to ensure readable font size (suggest 28 upwards).
§ Suggested are 15 slides per hour.
§ Set up Projector, Laptop and other devices to be used at least 15 minutes to the start of each lecture.
§ Where handouts are to be provided to the students, ask a student you trust to do so prior to the start of lectures and for late arrivals, as this can be disruptive.
* Assign Question and Answer (Q&A) activities for the final 30 minutes of the lecture:
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§ Prepare specific questions as part of the lesson to review the main points of the presentation for the Question and Answer Session.
§ Encourage inquiries, suggestions, and reactions to the Q & A. Be open to questions so that clarity of the topics is at hand to everyone. Same goes for suggestions and reactions.
§ Q&A questions should challenge the students to apply the main concepts you introduced in the lecture to real situations, testing application of the theories you taught. This outcome is the primary objective of all successful lectures.
§ Ask students to contribute personal experiences (where appropriate) - bail them out if they become flustered. Be alert to distracting habits - playing with a pen, shuffling around on the spot, constant use of 'um' or 'OK' etc.
§ Incorporate Q & A Sessions seamlessly into the lecture plan. IT IS NOT BREAK TIME FOR THE LECTURER OR STUDENT! Students must be encouraged to contribute to intellectual discourse by challenging premises, while remaining respectful to others around them. Students should be asked to raise their hands before contributing and discouraged from speaking out of turn. You need to remain in control of the process.
Practice.
Simulate:
§ Begin with an 'attention getter' - verbal or visual
§ Speak to your students, don't read.
§ Adopt a heightened conversational style
§ Vary use of voice - volume, speed, tone, emphasis, pauses
§ Make eye contact with whole audience
§ Use gestures, and nonverbal cues.
§ Project enthusiasm and interest
§ Avoid just reading what is displayed on the screen. Relate some anecdotes and speak to the students not the screen where your visuals are displayed
§ Use remote control in lectures to make slides change.
§ Use strategies such as 'Now, this is important' or 'There are three things which I want you to remember - the first is…,' - but use them sparingly.
§ Work the audience by seeking out a particular area of the venue and focusing attention on students there for a short while.
§ Allow for some spontaneity, diversions, and tangents if students raise matters
§ Prompt students (who trust you and who you trust) before lecture to contribute something when you cue them ( can be set up in preceding tutorials)
§ Deal with noisy students rather than talking over them. Lectures must be conducted in a quiet, responsive and respectful environment conducive to collegiate discourse.
Lecture Management
1. The two hour lecture has four (4) distinct sessions that must be factored in the planning, delivery, and management of Lectures.
§ Lecture Session 1:Lecture for 45 minutes with minimum interruption.
§ Q & A for Lecture Session 1:
Use the last 15 minutes – called Q & A - for the question and answer session to recapture all the main points of the presentation and to assess how effectively the topics were distilled, and the students learnt. This also prevents the students from feeling sleepy or bored.
§ Lecture Session 2:
Lecture for 45 minutes with minimum interruption.
§ Q & A for Lecture Session 2:
Use the last 15 minutes – called Q & A - for the question and answer session to recapture all the main points of the presentation and to assess how effectively the topics were distilled, and the students learnt. This also prevents the students from feeling sleepy or bored.
2. Invite a guest speaker: Ask other professionals to host a lecture section and contribute a 30-minute talk with the students giving them a chance to get to know the practioners in the field and to hear different perspectives and experiences.
3. Online Course Management for Distant Learners
§ be aware of online audience (if lesson will be broadcast to distant learners)
§ Use page numbers on slides and regularly state slide number so students following remotely can use lecture notes you provide online prior to lessons.
Lesson Delivery
IMPORTANT
§ Tell the Students what you are going to tell them!
o Begin your lecture by listing the concepts you aim to cover during lecture.
o Then explain each concept in detail.
o Then review what you just told them.
§ How much content to include in one lesson?
o Rule of thumb = 3-4 main points per lecture
o Preparing too much content is a common pitfall for inexperienced lecturers.
o Follow your Study Guide!
o Sequence your lecture using the sequence in the relevant Study Guide chapter (which is often based on the textbook sequence).
§ Learning objectives!
o Organise your lecture into sections, each of which focuses on one learning objective.
§ Advertise your structure!
o Highlight the start of each new concept during lecture - announce, PowerPoint slide
o Between concepts pause for effect
o Use different design of PowerPoint slides for separate concepts.
§ Reverse order!
o Begin your lecture with the 'answers' or 'conclusions', then work backwards demonstrating how you arrived at them.
§ Link back and link forward!
o Begin lecture with review of previous topic.
o Explain how current topic relates to previous one.
o Cover 3-4 concepts
o Finish with explanation of how this topic flows into next one.
§ What can I do in lectures to retain student attention and engagement?
There is a range of strategies you may consider:
o concentration does improve if there is a break or a change of activity
o build breaks and changes into your lecture plan
o plan your lecture as 4 x 10 minute quarters
o use a mix of auditory and visual stimulation - consider blanking out the screen temporarily whilst you make a point, raise or lower your voice at intervals
o remember that if the lecturer is bored then the students have NO chance but to be bored as well - find your inner passion (even if you have to fake it!) and give them some of the motivation you expect from them in return!
o decide if your lecture's purpose is to transmit information or do both this as well as stimulate deeper thinking by students - take students out of their comfort zone with what you present.
o begin lectures with challenging questions, something interesting or engaging.
o be alert for looks of bewilderment amongst your audience - if necessary, try 'I see from your reactions that this point is a little difficult, so let me just explain again that...'
o try to relate your lecture content to 'real world' examples of relevance to students' current world and future careers - e.g. start with 'You will all be familiar with...'
o build in signals such as 'Now we have finished with 'X' we will now move on to 'Y', or, 'The important thing to remember about 'Z' is...'
o be careful of overusing the phrase 'this will be in the exam', but used sparingly can improve attention
o have a colleague join you in lecture and conduct a 'conversation' relevant to the topic.
RECOMMENDED APPROACH TO LESSON DELIVERY
1. Define and explain the theory
2. Illustrate with a real world example familiar to students
3. Support with a more detailed case or examples to reinforce
4. Relate a relevant anecdote if possible
5. Ensure students contributions in the Q & A (can be effective).
'Good teaching uses and fosters motivation; bad teaching kills it'.
(Donald Bligh in Bligh, D. 2000What's The Use of Lectures?, Jossey-Bass, New York, p. 58)
TUTORS AND LECTURERS
COURSE DELIVERY AND SUPPORT RESPONSIBILITIES:
§ Developing and Marking Assessments
o Mid Term and Final Examination Papers
o Term Papers
o Mark Scheme
§ Reporting and Setting Lesson Objectives
§ Preparing Lesson Plans
§ Distributing Syllabi and Course Assignments
§ Setting up course group for lesson discussions and students support
§ Creating Lecturers’ Page
§ Communicating with course group through phone, email and online
§ Invigilating Examinations
§ Organising and Executing Field Trips and Students Work Experience
§ Contacting Guest Lecturers
§ Completing Lecturers Midpoint and Final Course Reports
§ Attending Faculty Meetings and Professional Conferences
§ Publishing Office hours for Students Interaction
§ Contributing to the Student Societies
§ Meeting all Institutional Deadlines
Source/Reference
Research and notes were facilitated through research using articles and postings found at
o http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/pd/tl-modules/teaching-approach/effective-lecturing/topic04.php
o http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/tips/key_strategies_for_tutorials.html
o https://academicskills.anu.edu.au/resources/handouts/prepare-lectures-tutorials-laboratory-sessions-andor-field-trips
o http://www.ubc.ca/okanagan/students/global/incoming/academics/formats.html
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